It was only when I juxtaposed our stories that I saw how harshly I had judged myself, when I was just another organism trying to survive. In this light, I found it helpful to write about myself the way I would a fish, such as thinking about times when I've had to adapt, evolve, or escape, and to write about a fish the way I would write about another person, which meant treating them as an individual whose life story matters, not just as a member of a school or a swarm.
